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<< Our Photo Pages >> Dolmen de Dombate - Burial Chamber or Dolmen in Spain in Galicia

Submitted by ernar on Wednesday, 01 September 2004  Page Views: 14237

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Dolmen de Dombate Alternative Name: A Fornella
Country: Spain Region: Galicia Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Nearest Town: Vimianzo  Nearest Village: Borneiro
Latitude: 43.190194N  Longitude: 8.969345W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
2 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
5 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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I have visited· I would like to visit

rrmoser visited on 23rd Oct 2014 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 1 Access: 5 Sadly this is the result of overzealous archeologists, historians and public officials. This magnificent dolmen has now been "preserved" -- truly entombed -- and has lost its function as a sacred site. The idea that a structure at least 5000 years old needs a huge wooden roof (that may last 100 years) to protect it is ridiculous. The objects found could be conserved in a museum and the site left in the state that has preserved it for the last 5000 years.

LeGuMa visited on 1st Jul 2013 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 4 Access: 5

MacD visited on 28th May 2011 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 5 I had read so much about this site I was prepared to be disappointed but I wasn't. It really is magnificent and has finally been opened to the public again. Ok, so it would be preferable to see it in the open air but it would have to be partly reburied to protect it and the truly massive proportions would have been hidden again. The visitor centre has yet to be completed internally and hopefully the finds will be returned from the museum in A Coruna including the 20 "idolinos" found at the entrance to the passage. There are many more megaliths in the area - mostly off the beaten track and not as huge as this....and loads more fantastic sites in Galicia. Highly recommended!

Jansold visited on 21st Aug 2008 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 1 Access: 5 Supposedly the 'cathedral' of dolmens, the Dolmen de Dombate was looking very sad when visited in 2008. 'Protected' by wooden shutters and concrete posts, it was under cover in a makeshift marquee. I believe things are now much improved, with visitor centre and interpretation etc., but for charm and atmosphere, there are much better sites in Galicia



Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 4.25 Ambience: 2.5 Access: 5

Dolmen de Dombate
Dolmen de Dombate submitted by ernar : Picture of the main chamber of the "Modern Dombate" passage grave from the location of the "Old Dombate" portal tomb. Currently this site is difficult to view due to the excavations in progress. (Vote or comment on this photo)
The "Dolmen de Dombate" is arguably the best of such megaliths located so far in Spain. Not only due to the relative good conservation of the monument, but also for several peculiarities that make it unique.

The monument is actually two Tombs constructed in two different time frames, one over the other. The older monument appeared in the excavation process of the visible "modern" megalith.

"Modern" Dombate: (Dated 3900 BC) this megalith is composed of a 24m diameter, 1,8m high barrow which does not seem to have totally covered the actual chamber. The later is a poligonal chamber composed of seven orthostats (the bigger one at the back of the monument is 4,7x3m) covered by a massive capstone. This chamber was accessed by a three segment - 4m long - corridor made of six orthostats of decreasing heights. The corridor, covered by a capstone and probably by the barrow, is oriented to the East.

Inside the megalith, several petroglyphs have been found, but what makes this Dolmen unique in Spain is the discovery of several paintings in both the chamber and the access corridor. These pictures are Zig-Zag motives in reddish colour with black dots over a whitish base.

Objects encountered inside the tomb reveal different periods of usage, and range from early neolithic silex blades to pre-beaker pottery. All in all the Dolmen was used from its creation (3900 BC) to 2700BC when a final lith was installed blocking all access.

Other objects dating from 2700BC to contemporary times have been found since the first re-opening of the megalith by Beaker Culture gravediggers.

"Old Dombate": (Date Unknown) of this monument, a broken orthostat from the chamber - plus several 'negatives' where the rest of them were located - still remain. Also remains a Kerb-like structure, a remnant of a full stone shielding covering the 10'5m diameter barrow. The chamber measures 2,40m by 1,90 and is oriented ESE.

For exhaustive information on this monument, see:
Main Page (Spanish)
Specific Description (Spanish)

The Dolmen is clearly signposted on the AC-430 and CP-1404.
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Dolmen de Dombate
Dolmen de Dombate submitted by MacD : Dolmen of Dombate's new home The huge glass walled pavilion allows visitors to get a 360 degree view of the monument whilst protecting it from the elements, vandals etc. The temperature remains at a constant throughout the year at 18-20 degrees C to protect the remnante of the paint on the interior - unfortunately not visible. (3 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Dolmen de Dombate
Dolmen de Dombate submitted by Jansold : Not looking its best... Site in Galicia Spain (Vote or comment on this photo)

Dolmen de Dombate
Dolmen de Dombate submitted by ernar : Double Dolmen Structure View This drawing clearly pictures the relative sizes and positions of the two portal tombs and its respective tumuli at the Dombate site. (3 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Dolmen de Dombate
Dolmen de Dombate submitted by LeGuMa : Site in Galicia Spain, Dolmen de Dombate (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Dolmen de Dombate
Dolmen de Dombate submitted by LeGuMa : Site in Galicia Spain, Dolmen de Dombate

Dolmen de Dombate
Dolmen de Dombate submitted by LeGuMa (1 comment)

Dolmen de Dombate
Dolmen de Dombate submitted by LeGuMa

Dolmen de Dombate
Dolmen de Dombate submitted by LeGuMa (1 comment)

Dolmen de Dombate
Dolmen de Dombate submitted by MacD : Early phase Dombate Not a great pic as there is little to be seen of the early phase of Dombate. Only part of one orthostat remains in situ with socket holes for the rest and the remains of the kerb. It's about 1000 years earlier than the main monument, but indicates a continuation of a "sacred" site.

Dolmen de Dombate
Dolmen de Dombate submitted by MacD : Rear view of Dombate The size of the slabs used to create Dombate is phenomenal. The rear stone seen here is 4.7m high with some of the unexcavated mound material still in place. The lower part of the mound was covered with a layer of stones - the coraza. I'm not sure how often they will need to weed the site. There's a healthy variety of ferns and other vegetation growing on the site but it ...

Dolmen de Dombate
Dolmen de Dombate submitted by MacD : Entrance to Dombate's chamber The large stones in the foreground are displaced capstones from the short V shaped passage.

Dolmen de Dombate
Dolmen de Dombate submitted by MacD : Site in Galicia Spain New Visitor Centre, Dolmen of Dombate. A simple wood clad building housing information boards, through which you can access the pavilion covering the monument. It will soon also house the finds from the site and perhaps eventually a scale model. Excavations have also revealed a ditched enclosure relating to a Bronze Age settlement around the site.

Dolmen de Dombate
Dolmen de Dombate submitted by ernar : Side view of the "Modern Dombate" portal tomb. In this drawing the structure of the monument - higher chamber orthostats covered by a massive capstone, smaller corridor stones and final slab - can be easily seen. (1 comment)

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"Dolmen de Dombate" | Login/Create an Account | 5 News and Comments
  
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Re: Dolmen de Dombate by davidmorgan on Thursday, 23 May 2013
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Re: Dolmen de Dombate by macd on Wednesday, 03 August 2011
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I've been meaning to update my last post as I visited the site in May. It really is amazing, and think they have made an exemplary job of presenting and protecting the site. My translation from Spanish newspapers was slightly off the mark. The site is covered by a huge glasswalled pavilion which is carefully temperature and humidity controlled in order to protect the remnants of the paint still existing on the base of some of the stones. There is a wooden walkway going right around the edges of the cairn so the monument can be viewed from all angles. It is virtually all - but not entirely- excavated, exposing the massive 4m+ high backstone, and the kerb of the older monument is clearly visible. The visitor centre is a separate building where there are 18 information boards dealing with all aspects of the site and the excavation, regrettably only in Spanish and galego ,though the numerous illustrations and photos speak for themselves. It was not quite complete when I visited and the intention is to display finds from the excavation (currently in the museum in A Coruna). I'll post some pictures when I work out how to shrink them! Well worth a visit - along with other fantastic sites in Galicia - as yet unspoilt by tourism!
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Re: Dolmen de Dombate by macd on Tuesday, 22 March 2011
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Re the previous post: I have been following the progress of the construction works in the local paper La Voz de Galicia. They have been building a visitor and interpretive centre right over the top of the site, in order to protect it from the elements and vandalism. As far as I can tell, there will be a glass dome structure over the dolmen and a large pavillion built of glass and wood with a copper clad roof built over the dome. There has been a huge amount of controversy over the construction works, which should have been completed years ago. However, it was officially opened today by The Provincial President, Salvador Fernández Moreda. I think it is not yet quite complete but hopefully it will be very soon. I intend going in May so I will keep you posted. It will be interesting to see how this project works. Preferably, it would not be necessary to cover the monument, but it was vulnerable after the excavations and at least this is better than the tarpaulins and sheets of wood which have surrounded it for the last 20 odd years. I will reserve judgement till I have seen it!
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Re: Dolmen de Dombate by Anonymous on Friday, 28 May 2010
I visited in May of 2010. There is a lot of construction going on around the dolmen, and the area is enclosed by a fence. A sign said the site was only open on weekends and holidays. We could only view the dolmen from outside the fence, a distance of perhaps 100 meters. So if you want to see the dolmen, be sure you go at a time that the site is open.
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Re: Dolmen de Dombate by Anonymous on Tuesday, 06 September 2005
There is another dolmen near to Bielsa in the Spanish pirenees.
Not that I am an expert on dolmens, just an enthusiast for the high places.
Trevor Saul e mail t.saul@virgin.net or saul@virgin.net
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